September 30, 2009 – Wisconsin Dells

So I guess I should start of by saying this: I don’t usually do the black and white thing. Some people are good at it, I don’t consider myself one of those people. My heart’s not in it. Sure, I get the fact that it can be more dramatic, and it makes you focus much more on the composition and the detail, instead of relying on the colors to make the shot. But whenever I think about trying it, I feel like the result is cheesy, over the top, and it’s overly obvious that I just took a color shot and turned it to B&W in Picasa because I wanted to make it AWESOME.

And besides, let’s be brutally honest here, black and white ain’t what it used to be. It wasn’t too long ago that if you wanted to shoot b&w, you had to commit. You’d load your b&w film in the camera, and that’s what you got. There was none of this just snapping the shot and then playing around with it later to decide if you wanted color or not. The folks who spend hours in the darkroom, those are the “real” black and white folks. I’m just a pretender.

That’s what goes through my head, anyway, when I think about clicking the Black and White button. Which is why I usually don’t. But in this case… sure, why not?

This was taken near the Wisconsin Dells, in, duh, Wisconsin. I’m still not exactly sure why or how I ended up there. I’ve got a lot of family (mom’s side) in Chicago, and one extended weekend when my immediate family met there (my parents live in Colorado, my brother in Tucson, and I’m of course in Seattle), we decided to spend a couple extra days together, hanging out in… Wisconsin. I think it was my mom’s idea, and it actually turned out to be a great one, it was a ton of fun. My first impression was that it was just a midwestern DisneyLand. There’s this big lake, and hundreds of these cheeseball resort places, waterparks, go-kart tracks, museums, and mini-golf courses. This was the first place where I was ever introduced to the concept of an indoor waterpark, although I still have yet to be inside one. It wasn’t until the second day that I realized there was actually something to see there – the Dells themselves, which are these cool rock canyon things around the lake. They’re actually really beautiful, I was really surprised. I actually want to go back there now that my camera equipment has matured. To Wisconsin. I want to go back to Wisconsin. Bet you never thought you’d hear me say that, right? Going back and re-reading that sentence, it still doesn’t look right. But it’s actually the truth.

Now that we’ve taken care of all that business, I’d like to remind everyone that calendars are still available. In fact, a couple of you requested them, but never gave me an address to send one to. If you want one, shoot me an email, dave (at) davefry.net, or leave a comment, or send me a Facebook message, whatever. 15 bucks-ish, plus whatever shipping costs. I’m selling them for exactly what they cost me, if you were wondering. Let me know!

Map: http://bit.ly/BN0Xu (I don’t remember where the pic was taken, so I just put the pin right in town.)

One Comment

I love the picture you took at the Dells. I’m glad you want to return to Wisconsin as I have a few ideas for you: check out Devil’s Lake in Baraboo, Wisconsin; in northern Wisconsin there’s Bayfield, Madeline Island, the Apostle Islands, Copper Mountain. Or, if you want a really great view, drive along Highway 35 along the western edge of Wisconsin and view the beautiful bluffs and the Mississippi River.